RusEnergy

14.02.2006 MosNews - Lukoil, Russia's largest independent crude producer, is planning to make a number of major acquisitions in the United States and Europe, the company's president Vagit Alekperov said on Monday, Feb. 13, during his meeting with President Vladimir Putin. During the meeting Alekperov also said aggressive investment work in Eastern Europe had been started, mainly in oil refineries. He added that Lukoil's gas stations abroad were also a major source of revenue. "Lukoil has about 2,000 gasoline stations working in the U.S. and about 600 in Western and Eastern Europe. These are good assets, which bring decent revenues," he said, quoted by RIA Novosti. Putin asked whether the company felt government support. "The Foreign Ministry has been extremely helpful, lobbying our interests [abroad] in a good sense," Alekperov said. He said the president's upcoming visit to Hungary, where the company owns a chain of gas stations and supplies oil products there, would also be productive for Lukoil. President Putin hailed Lukoil's activities in Europe, saying they contributed to Russia's economic growth, as well as to the economic development of regional countries.